Star Wars 7: There’s A Batmobile On The New Millenium Falcon

Zack Snyder is currently shooting Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice in Detroit and last week rumors indicated that one of the new Batmobiles was stolen. Snyder took to Twitter to post a funny response to the news, one the that made geek fans proud. As it turns out, a Stormtrooper was to blame!

The image (below) was shared by Zack Snyder who took advantage of the rumor to share a beautiful photo by Clay Enos who shot it on a Nikon D800. That’s cool in and of it self, but it’s part of a much cooler, and larger trend. That rumor by the way, was entirely false. Detroit police spokesman Sgt. Michael Woody went on record confirming that “The Batmobile is safe in the Batcave where it belongs.”

Snyder’s actually been making a habit of posting mash-up images of Batman V Superman and Star Wars for a few months. In July he posted an image of Superman (Henry Cavill) as a Jedi and in August he tweeted Star Wars: Episode VII director J.J. Abrams’ company directly with another similarly themed photo featuring Batman and R2-D2. Now, Abrams is responding by including a little piece of Batman in Star Wars, or more specifically, as part of the Millenium Falcon.

We know the Falcon is a “HUNKA JUNK” as some characters in the original trilogy would tell you, but is Abrams making fun of the Batmobile too for fun? The video was sent by Abrams’ Bad Robot to Snyder directly. Snyder was subject to rumors a while back that he could be directing Seven Samurai-style Star Wars spinoff so maybe this is more than just a coincidence. Throw in Yoda (another rumored character for a spinoff) and we have a cool origin story.

That model of the Batmobile is of course the Tumbler featured in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. There are no toys yet of the new, and heavily armed, Bat-vehicle featured in Snyder’s latest unfortunately. The video though is a fun nod to movie fans excited for both projects, two of the largest and most-anticipated films ever, one bringing back the Star Wars saga, the other finally bringing together Batman and Superman together on the big screen.

On top of that, it’s a real Millenium Falcon! Or at least, part of one given the latest unofficial set photos, which reveal a top-down view of a base featuring new X-Wing starfighter designs and half of a to-scale Falcon. That set, mostly complete inside and out, was built long before production had even started and is just one example of how Abrams has taken in all he feedback to his own Star Trek films and the Star Wars prequels and chose to go as practical as possible with Star Wars 7, even down to the aliens, star ships, and best of all, shooting on film instead of digitally. Dirty Star Wars for the win!

In other Star Wars 7 news, Anthony Daniels, who plays C-3PO in all of the films to date, spoke with HitFix about returning to the part for Abrams’ new take on the franchise, what made him accept the gig and what he didn’t love about the previous movies. When Abrams called him directly to ask if he’d be involved and if was interested in doing just the voice, Daniels said “no.” He’d only do it if he could play the character again as well so they made a new, much more comfortable suit for him to use on set, one that’s easy to get in and out of.

“I will tell you that the team then got together and built a new suit. They made an entirely new look-a-like with changes that you will never notice [on screen] that made my life a lot easier. I can get it on and off very quickly.”

Daniels always had a problem for when C-3PO needed to be CGI because to him, it never looked right and couldn’t move like he would when actually playing the character on a set.

“[During the prequels] the only time [Threepio has] been CG was when it was very dangerous [to act in the scene in a suit] — and it wasn’t very good. In fact, I’m going to say it was awful. One of the difficulties is with a character that you know and love so well is that, as a member of the audience, you go, ‘Oh no, that’s not right. No, he doesn’t move like that.’ With me [in the suit], he’s always going to move the same way and have the same reactions, timing, and so on. With CG, you’re working with some brilliant person on the keyboard who is trying to pretend to be me. In a cartoon series like ‘Rebels,’ you accept it because it’s not trying to pretend to be reality. It’s an extension, it’s an exaggeration. On that basis, it’s utterly acceptable — providing the characterization is correct.”

With Star Wars 7, Daniels gets to play the character he envisions and it can’t get more authentic than that. Add this to the list of fan service Abrams aims to provide. Lastly, if you’re someone who didn’t love Return of the Jedi as much as its predecessors because of the furry creatures in the third act. You’re not alone.

“The first film was incredible success. Then the the second was a phenomena too. You come to the third film [pause] that had Ewoks in it. Anyway! Moving on!”